Teesta deal to be finalized soon, hints Bangladesh

Dhaka : India and Bangladesh will soon be signing the Teesta water-sharing treaty as the agreement has reached its final destination, said Bangladeshi official.

“We are confident that it will be signed soon. The agreement is ready. The ball is on India’s court now,” daily star quoted Gowher Rizvi, the international affairs adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as saying.

Rizvi was addressing a panel discussion on the last day of the two-day Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue held here.

Drafted in 2010, the Teesta treaty was supposed to be signed between the two countries in September 2011. However, it was shelved in the last hour following protest from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

India shares cordial relationship with Bangladesh and both countries have been looking to book trade and security along the border with special emphasis in fighting human trafficking.

The two neighbours signed the historic land boundary agreement last year to simplify their 4,000-km border and to clarify the identities of 52,000 living in enclaves. (ANI)